


A Prince, a Boy, and Outrunning Curses

by ProustPerfume



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Attempt At Pretty Writing, Curses, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prince Hinata Shouyou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:20:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29855217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProustPerfume/pseuds/ProustPerfume
Summary: Long ago, a prince was forgotten by his kingdom.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Sakusa Kiyoomi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	A Prince, a Boy, and Outrunning Curses

Nightfall was always peaceful in the kingdom. As the busy bustle of the nation wound down and settled into a more comfortable murmur of its people going about their nightly affairs, up in the castle’s high, winding tower was a boy getting ready for the start of his night. 

The boy was the prince of the kingdom, though, unlike the rest of the royal family, he wasn’t renowned or fawned over in the slightest. For all his life, the boy was only allowed to see the land he ruled over once the sun had set for the day, for this was the product of a curse brought onto him by the King and Queen, his parents, for previous selfish acts he had nothing to do with. But how and why this was his reality didn’t matter to him anymore; it'd been so long in the past that the origin of the curse was no longer of any relevance to him, as knowing how the curse came to be wouldn’t change his cursed state anymore than not knowing.

The curse he was meant to bear for his parents’ wrongdoings was set on a condition; the effects of the curse on their land wouldn’t reveal themselves nor wreak havoc on their citizens so long as the identity of their young prince and first born was hidden from their people. The sorceress who cursed them was known for having strange, eccentric punishments for those who wronged them and there were no exceptions for the King and Queen of a nation, their son, nor their peoples. 

At first, the royals found the ‘punishment’, that really wasn't much of a punishment in their eyes, peculiar. Their subjects already knew of their son’s life, for they had celebrated his birth not yet half a day ago, the Queen argued. How were they to keep a secret when he was already known by their people?

At this, the sorceress tutted, muttering some vague insult about the intelligence of mere mortals, or more so lack of, under her breath and crossed the small distance between herself and the royals. From her robe, she procured a strange, purple-glowing bottle and held it up to the royals’ curious gazes.

“This is a memory potion,” she said bluntly, almost sounding bored as she spoke. Really, did humans know nothing?

“Your people knowing about your son is a simple issue to resolve; when I leave your kingdom, I will disperse the potion across all who reside in this land. In the morning, your citizens will wake, and it will be as if the little prince had never existed. Poof! Gone he is from their memories and you need not worry about the curse ravaging your kingdom. Simple, it is not?”

The King and Queen passed weary looks between themselves. This was an unusual situation, the first of its kind they were to encounter as they were pulled between their now two existing titles; parent and ruler.

A silent conversation was had between the two royals with their eyes and the sorceress rolled her own at the sight, the old being growing tired of the theatrics humans so commonly exhibited. So much effort and drama surrounded making a decision, and yet they didn’t use any of that energy to think of how to get themselves out of the situation, instead accepting what they  _ thought  _ was reality, truly as reality. Didn’t they know humans were the only ones to obey these strange set of laws called morals and play by these rules? Could they not think of a  _ single  _ way out of or around the problem, either before it occurred or after? Such a pity.

After a moment, the two turned towards the sorceress, who whined about them taking so long. The King gave his wife a nod of assurance and leaned in to kiss her cheek, before leaning down to kiss the bundle of joy in her arms. 

The Queen approached the sorceress and in her eyes were the beginning of budding tears, the wetness making her eyes shiny and glisten in the green light emitted by the sorceress’ aura. 

“We accept your conditions,” she spoke, and the sorceress was almost impressed with how her voice barely shook. The sorceress made a sound of affirmation and looked at the child in the Queen’s arms, almost feeling bad for it being born to such reckless and careless parents, crowned rulers or not. What a hard life they’d live knowing their parents cared more about their kingdom than their child.

It wasn’t the sorceress’ problem, though, not anymore, at least, and thus the pity was merely a fleeting feeling as the sorceress bid the royals farewell and leapt out the window of the winding tower, the tower that was, coincidentally, the new baby’s nursery. 

The royals watched from the window as the sorceress flew away, a purple haze lightly coating their kingdom as the sorceress’ silhouette grew further and further away in the distance, and when she was no longer visible, the Queen turned to her king and wept in his chest, a comforting and saddened arm wrapping around her as she held their baby tight.

Just what had they done?

The prince knew none of this, though, and scarcely thought of his curse anyhow anymore. He had more important things to worry about than the shortcomings of his family’s previous mistakes, even if they did affect him directly, and he thought it pointless to spend time thinking about something he couldn’t change. 

No, instead of worrying about some curse he never heard the full story behind, every night he would sit on the balcony of his window, the very window the sorceress lept from all those years ago, and stare up at the stars as he let the sounds of his sleeping kingdom wash over him.

Most would probably detest the night if it was the only thing they were allowed to see, but to Prince Shoyo, the night was a special time just for him. In the day, he was hounded by his mother and the few keepers that knew of his existence to keep that very existence hidden, to not go outside nor communicate with the outside world, while at the same time they still treated him like he was any other prince, giving him lessons on etiquette and training him as if he were to one day rule the kingdom himself. The likelihood of that was almost impossible, given there was no known way to break the curse and that the sorceress who’d cast it hadn't been seen in over a decade, but Shoyo figured it was more so to keep a sense of normalcy within their castle than to actually benefit him and prepare him to rule, and to possibly fight off his mother’s guilt over her decision.

His father on the other hand seldom spoke to him. They didn’t even eat dinner together, for Shoyo had a little sister and she wasn’t to be made aware of his existence until she was thought to be old enough to keep it a secret, and since she was only nine that meant Shoyo spent almost his entire day locked away in his tower.

But nightfall. Nightfall was when Shoyo was allowed to roam free, fly almost as free as a bird in those few hours the sun was hidden, and he took as much of an advantage of that as he could. The reason he was allowed to be out at night was because it was thought that, with the darkness acting as a cover, no one would recognize him like he would if his brilliant orange hair was openly on display during the daytime, his family resemblance being unmistakable at that point. A cloak and dim light was all he needed and the citizens of his kingdom were none the wiser that their own prince was walking among them.

Shoyo didn’t usually travel into the kingdom even when it was nighttime, though, not wanting to risk someone somehow spotting him and thus accidentally causing the horrors of the curse to take place. He mostly spent time wandering around the castle and sitting at the window in his tower, the reason being that at night, he had the most spectacular view.

The main window in his room was outward facing and looked towards the kingdom, the buildings and mountains of the land so perfectly placed near each other it almost looked like a painting. In the day, his window was shut and his curtain tightly drawn, no one in the family wanting to risk an on looker accidentally spotting him from down below, but at night, the shackles of his burden fell to his sides and his window was wide open, the curtains pulled to the sides and flapping freely in the wind, and Shoyo could almost taste his freedom.

He had dreams of leaving his kingdom to go somewhere he could actually live a life. Though at only sixteen years of age, despite being forgotten, he was a still pampered and inexperienced prince, making the idea of running away not exactly plausibile nor intelligent at the moment, but he anxiously waited until the day he could finally be declared an adult and then run away from the kingdom, from his family, from the curse, all of it, and finally be his own person.

He thought of all these things as he fondly watched the stars, his feet swinging as he sat on the balcony of his window, and it was as he heard a twig snap nearby that the reason why he wanted to run away revealed itself, a smile forming on his face as he looked down and admired his motivation.

“Hello, Kiyoomi,” he greeted softly, feeling like a fool in love as his friend peered up at him, the older boy’s neck and eyes surely straining from the effort it took to look at the prince so high up in the sky.

Kiyoomi was his friend and, not that he knew, the love of Shoyo’s life. Besides the few people in the castle and his family, Kiyoomi was the only person in the entire kingdom who somehow knew Shoyo existed, that there was in fact a prince that belonged to the kingdom. 

Kiyoomi was a commoner, but that meant nothing to Shoyo. Even if he hadn’t been an essentially shunned prince, it still wouldn’t matter to him; titles and separations of class always rubbed him the wrong way and was another reasons he wanted to run away; the idea of living freely among other people who all thought of each other as equal was more appealing than anything royalty or high class could give him.

“Shoyo, what are you still doing up there?” Kiyoomi’s whisper was harsh against the quiet night and Shoyo couldn’t help but giggle at his urgent tone. “Come on, if you don’t hurry, we’ll be late!”

With a quick nod, Shoyo maneuvered from the balcony back into his room and grabbed the rope he kept specifically for this purpose, throwing it over the balcony. Kiyoomi caught it, not that he needed to, Shoyo had done this so many times before that he was practically an expert by now, and stabilized the rope as Shoyo climbed onto it and slid down towards his friend with ease.

When he almost reached the bottom, he jumped from the rope and landed on the ground, making a sound of accomplishment and giving Kiyoomi a satisfied smile at his effort, but Kiyoomi merely rolled his eyes.

“Come on, you show off,” his friend urged, grabbing his arm and tugging him towards the direction of their destination. “Waste any more time and we’ll miss the whole thing all together.”

“Wouldn’t wanna do that,” Shoyo quipped teasingly, earning a slight shove from Kiyoomi, and he let himself be tugged by his friend to their destination. He would follow him anywhere, let himself be led to the ends of the earth, if Kiyoomi so wished.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

They were quiet as they walked, both enjoying the silence of the night that was only slightly broken by the distant sounds of the nearby town. 

It was a special tonight and the townspeople were ecstatic in anticipation, for it was the night that sixteen years ago, the King and Queen bravely and valiantly warded off the torment of the cruel and evil sorceress, protecting their people from her ghastly plight and whatever dangers she wanted to cause them.

Tonight was the night that, sixteen years ago, Shoyo was both celebrated and forgotten all at once.

Though he tried not to care about the curse and his status much, Shoyo couldn’t help but be quiet and lost in thought as they walked, and this wasn’t unnoticed by Kiyoomi. He knew, after all, of Shoyo’s story. He was one of the only people who did, in fact, and it was a strange burden to see his friend bear, knowing that everyone else in the kingdom was living a lie and there was nothing to be done about it. 

“So,” Kiyoomi started, his hands shoved into his trouser pockets as he awkwardly kicked at rocks on the path. “How are you-“

“Stop.” Shoyo cut him off with a hand held up to his face before smiling politely. _Ever the people pleasing royal,_ Kiyoomi thought.

“I appreciate your concern, Kiyoomi, really, but I don’t want to think about those kinds of things tonight. It’s my birthday, after all, and as the birthday boy I declare there will be no sad or contemplative talks until the festival’s done. Only laughter and gorging ourselves on treats is permitted, okay?”

Kiyoomi gave him an easy smile and bowed teasingly. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Kiyoomi!” Shoyo cried before playfully shoving him. He ran off before Kiyoomi could retaliate and giggled as Kiyoomi followed him, teasing that he’d get his revenge on his friend.

The trek through the forest to the city was short and their play fighting made it shorter. The two boys quickly arrived near the outskirts of the town and Shoyo gasped as his eyes twinkled, the sound of music and festivities carrying through the trees and making his heart beat in excitement. With a toothy grin, he took one look at Kiyoomi before he raced towards the sound of people celebrating.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Since he hadn’t dressed protectively in order to hide his identity and couldn’t very well march into the middle of town out in the open, Shoyo opted to hide in a large tree while Kiyoomi went to get their provisions for the start of their night.

If there was one thing he was grateful for gaining while being locked up in a tower, it was the fact that cascading up and down the brick walls of the castle and climbing over the palace gates had given him great skills in scaling various structures and he sat in the tree as easily as a bird would, the wooded hiding place feeling more like home than his actual home. 

On top of keeping him hidden, the tree gave him the vantage point of being able to see all the main festivities perfectly, including the town square where a majority of the celebration was to be held, but even for the things he couldn’t see from the tree, he was glad he would be able to easily traverse over the tops of the town buildings or even climb into other trees if he had to. The only problem would be Kiyoomi keeping up, but he had faith that his very capable friend would be able to follow his lead and climb a building or two to witness the celebration.

Lost in thought imagining Kiyoomi struggling to get his bearings on the tiled rooftops of the townhouses, Shoyo laughed quietly to himself as he envisioned his somewhat lanky friend becoming endearingly panicked and worried over slipping, but was pulled back into reality when he heard a distinctive  _ psst! _ from down below. When he looked, he smiled as he saw Kiyoomi looking up at him happily, holding up the various snacks gotten in his hands.   


Without a second thought, Shoyo skillfully climbed down and helped his friend up.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Festival night was always Shoyo’s favorite night of the year, but even he couldn’t help but be sad about it knowing what had actually happened on that night sixteen years ago. Kiyoomi knew this, and every year Shoyo requested they only talk about good things on the night of his birth, but there was always a time where Shoyo’s resolve would crumble and he wanted to talk about the sad things he normally refused to, and Kiyoomi always simply ate his snacks patiently and waited for that time to come.

Surprisingly, Shoyo managed to hold out a lot longer than he usually did this year. It was when the parade in honor of his parents and sister came to its end and the festival continued its celebrations before the main event that he finally let out an annoyed groan, throwing himself dramatically onto Kiyoomi’s shoulder.

“This sucks, Omi ,” Shoyo pouted. He mocked offense when Kiyoomi didn’t respond, his friend smiling into his pretzel as he took a bite. It was when Shoyo smacked his arm and he laughed that Kiyoomi finally gave into his complaining.

“What sucks, Sho?”

“This!” Shoyo cried, and gestured with wide arms before him. Kiyoomi looked down and saw that the town square was still really active, some people dancing while others played games.

“The festival?” Kiyoomi asked, but he was sure it was deeper than that.

Shoyo shook his head and ripped off a piece of Kiyoomi’s pretzel, ignoring his friend’s indignant cries as he roughly shoved it into his mouth and chewed. Kiyoomi muttered something under his breath about how Shoyo had his own pretzel that was untouched right next to him, but Shoyo paid him no mind.

“Not the festival,” Shoyo continued when he swallowed and avoided the swipe Kiyoomi sent his way when he reached for more. He managed to get another piece, not because Kiyoomi relented but because he’d won that battle, thank you very much, and spoke again once he’d finished. “Maybe it is the festival. I don’t know.”

Kiyoomi nudged him with his shoulder to encourage him to speak more. “What do you mean?”

Shoyo shrugged and curled into himself, becoming smaller than Kiyoomi had ever seen him, besides physically anyway, and Kiyoomi patiently waited for his friend to finish his thought. They sat in silence like that for a short while, Kiyoomi eating his pretzel while his friend struggled with whatever his inner thoughts were, and Shoyo finally spoke up when Kiyoomi was finished with his food.

“I think it’s because I can’t celebrate with them,” Shoyo confessed. “Look.” He pointed to the square and Kiyoomi followed his finger with his eyes. “These are my people and they’re having so much fun,  _ without  _ me. They don’t even realize that without me, they wouldn’t have this festival!”

Not unkindly, more so to goude Shoyo to speak more, Kiyoomi asked, “So?”

“ _ So, _ I want to be down there with them! I want to play games with the children and dance with the blushing ladies. I want to laugh with the common folk and listen to the adventurous stories of the knights. I want to watch the fireworks with my sister. I want my parents to  _ look at me _ for more than five seconds. I want… so much,” Shoyo finished glumly, slouching in a way that couldn’t be comfortable whilst sitting on a tree.

Kiyoomi heard all these things and he thought about them. Shoyo knew he would, was counting on it in fact, so he didn’t take offense when his complaints were meant with silence. He watched children play and lovers dance and he tried to find joy in their happiness, but it just left him feeling sad and empty. After a while, Kiyoomi spoke.

“I’m no blushing lady, but I’ll dance with you, Shoyo.”

Shoyo’s heart felt like it was pounding a mile a minute at Kiyoomi’s words and he only prayed that the angel of the moon partially hidden behind trees that illuminated them didn’t make his reddening cheeks obvious.

Kiyoomi didn’t stop there. “And I’m sure my stories aren’t nearly as interesting as a knight’s, but I don’t mind telling you them. Or even finding you books you haven’t read and going on those new adventures with you, together.”

Kiyoomi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and avoided Shoyo’s eyes. “I know it isn’t much, and I’m sure being free would be better, but until then, I don’t mind doing those things with you if I can. You’re my best friend, if I have to climb up your tower and carry a bucket full of water just so you can bob for apples, I will.”

At the ridiculous thought, Shoyo laughed and hoped Kiyoomi didn’t hear him sniffle at his kindness. Before he could think better of it, or more like before he could think himself  _ out _ of it, Shoyo lurched forward and hugged Kiyoomi tightly. He nuzzled into Kiyoomi’s neck and fell even deeper into his scent when after a stifled moment Kiyoomi’s arms came to embrace him back.

“Thank you, Kiyoomi,” he whispered into his friend’s ear and pretended to not notice how the other shivered. He must’ve been cold, despite it being a little on the warmer side for a summer evening. “You’re the best friend I could ask for.”

He felt Kiyoomi smile against his head as he held him even tighter. “Of course, Shoyo.”

They stayed embraced for a moment longer before Shoyo noticed a commotion over Kiyoomi’s shoulder and pulled away to get a better look. When he realized what was happening, hearing the excited voices and hurried footsteps as the townspeople ran deeper into the town, Shoyo looked at Kiyoomi with dazzling eyes.

“Kiyoomi, it’s starting!”

Not a minute later, the two boys had joined the townsfolk in their hurried travel, scaling over the tops of their houses and stores towards the center of town excitedly, their hands clutching one another so neither would fall.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

When they finally reached their destination, Shoyo could only barely keep his gasp at an appropriate volume level lest they get caught as they stood on the roof, hand in hand as townsfolk prepared for the annual firework show.

“Isn't it so exciting?!” Shoyo exclaimed happily as he shook the hand they were joined by in anticipation. Kiyoomi smiled at him, his reactions the same as they are every year, and squeezed his friend's hand.

“Yeah, Shoyo. I can't wait.” It was said warmly and he hoped his voice didn’t give away what he really meant.  _ I care about you. I’m glad to share this moment with you every year. I’m sorry you have to go through this. _

Whatever Kiyoomi thought his voice said that his words didn’t, he seemed to be wrong as Shoyo merely held his gaze, his eyes sparkling and shining brighter than any firework could. In the reflection of his eyes, Kiyoomi could see the first firework shoot into the air and eagerly anticipated his friend’s reaction, who did not disappoint.

At the sound of the explosion, his friend gasped and whipped his eyes forward. Before them, colors of red, yellow, green, and orange danced before their eyes and though he was distracted, even Kiyoomi had to tear his gaze from Shoyo to witness them.

“Kiyoomi!” Shoyo cried, shaking his friend’s hand again. “Kiyoomi, did you see? They added colors this year! It’s always been orange before! How did they do that?” Kiyoomi listened happily to his friends excited rambling and yet again he thought he was happy to spend every year like this with Shoyo.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Eventually they sat to watch the fireworks, hidden between two raised parts of the roof they were on, but even if they had been in plain sight, no one would have been looking at them, too infatuated with the new and impressive light show before them. Neither were sure how it was possible, but the introduction of new colors in the fireworks made for an even more exciting display than usual, and some even almost resembled actual shapes instead of their general and vague, explosive circle shape they had always looked like the previous years.

When things seemed to start winding down and the peak of the firework show reached its end, Kiyoomi suggested they get a move on so not as to get caught. Shoyo looked at the last firework explosion forlornly, a depiction of what was most likely supposed to be some sort of fearsome, magical creature, before he nodded and the two set off to the woods. 

Shoyo wasn’t ready to end the night just yet, Kiyoomi could tell even if his friend hadn’t said so by how slowly he dragged his feet the farther and farther they got from town, and Kiyoomi didn’t want his friend to go back to his tower sad if he could prevent it. A giddiness and excitement rose up in his chest as he turned to his friend.

“Hey, Shoyo, I haven’t given you your birthday present yet, right?”

At the mention of a present, Shoyo was brought out of his stupor and blinked at Kiyoomi. “Present? Oh, Kiyoomi, you didn’t have to get me anything. Just your presence itself is the best gift I could ask for.”

The way Shoyo smiled so openly and earnestly at him made Kiyoomi feel like he had his own firework show exploding in his chest but he quickly shook that embarrassing and dramatic thought out of his head, grabbing Shoyo’s hand and pulling him towards a tree.

“Of course I did, Shoyo. It’s your birthday and you’re my best friend. If I didn’t get you a present on your birthday I’d be the worst friend ever.”

Shoyo rolled his eyes at his friend's theatrics and followed up the tree he was climbing.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Once situated on a sturdy branch, the giddiness and excitement from before returned to Kiyoomi’s chest, only this time they were accompanied with a nervousness that hadn’t been there before. It was fine, he reassured himself, this was Shoyo, his best friend. He wouldn’t care about what Kiyoomi was going to show him because they were friends and the past years proved that.

Still, he was nervous and took a deep breath to calm himself, to which Shoyo eyed him curiously.

“What do you have to show me, Kiyoomi?” Shoyo asked kindly and hearing his name on his friend’s lips helped calm him in the way it always did. 

Feeling more confident, he answered his friend. “I’m going to show you now, okay, Shoyo? But you have to promise you won’t freak out.”

At that, Shoyo became even more curious. He held any questions he had though and nodded, excited to see whatever it was Kiyoomi had to show him.

Kiyoomi closed his eyes and took another breath. Shoyo watched him critically, confused and intrigued as to whatever Kiyoomi was going to do, and his intrigue grew even more when all Kiyoomi did was hold up his finger.

For a while, nothing happened.

“Um, Kiyoomi?” Shoyo asked doubtfully, yet he was promptly shushed.

“Sorry, Shoyo. I need to concentrate.”

Shoyo nodded and kept quiet, but it was difficult. He had always been an excitable person, a busy body even, and being quiet was not one of his strong suits. As the seconds ticked by, he got more and more impatient and anxious for something to happen and it was when he was about to explode and beg Kiyoomi to show him whatever it was he had to show him when his words caught in his throat and were replaced with a gasp as a blast of light suddenly burst from Kiyoomi’s finger, an array of colors and sparkles coming from seemingly nowhere as his friend opened his eyes and smile in both disbelief and excitement.

“H-happy birthday, Shoyo!” Kiyoomi cried, nearly forgetting why he had done the trick in the first place as he was so shocked and surprised that he’d  _ actually  _ be able to do it finally.

Shoyo said nothing, awed by the sight before him. Kiyoomi closed his eyes again and the sparkles began pulsating, changing their colors and even shape the harder Kiyoomi concentrated. They went from fizzy orange, red, yellow, and green sparkles like the fireworks from earlier, to shapes similar to stars and hearts in pink and purple and yellow, to finally what looked to be a somewhat crudish attempt at Shoyo smiling, his hair almost the same color orange as his actual hair, before the sparkles quickly dissipated and the light they radiated, which Shoyo hadn’t realized had been so bright through his shock, went away, went with it and Kiyoomi panted in effort when it disappeared, clearly exhausted from the amount of work it took to do what he did, however he did it. 

For a while, Shoyo said nothing and the longer he was silent the more anxious Kiyoomi became. What if he didn’t like it? What if he thought Kiyoomi was weird? What if he thought Kiyoomi was  _ dangerous? _ Like the good friend he was, though, Shoyo didn’t let his friend worry for long.

“Kiyoomi,” he said seriously and Kiyoomi gulped anxiously. “That. Was. So. COOL! How did you do that? When did you start doing that? Can you teach me how to do that?!”

His friend began shooting off questions a mile a minute and Kiyoomi couldn’t help but laugh, both at his friend's antics and in relief. Thank  _ goodness _ he wasn’t scared or weirded out by him, Kiyoomi didn’t know what he could do if Shoyo of all people was frightened by him.

Kiyoomi did his best to answer his friend’s questions to his best capability. He wasn’t exactly sure how he did it, he just knew it took a lot of concentration and it usually had to be quiet for it to work. It had only started happening a few weeks ago when he was thinking about watching the fireworks at the festival with Shoyo and he almost set the book he had been reading on fire. He wasn’t sure if he could teach Shoyo to do it since he didn’t really know how to do it himself, but he wouldn’t mind trying to.

Shoyo had more questions and Kiyoomi tried to answer as many as he could, and by Shoyo’s pleased smile he figured he had done a good enough job. Shoyo couldn’t stop talking about how cool Kiyoomi was for being able to do it and Kiyoomi couldn’t stop his cheeks from blushing at the compliments.

“Wow,” Shoyo said quietly to himself, as if it was finally hitting him. He whipped his head up to Kiyoomi and smiled the biggest smile the boy had ever seen, making his breath catch in his throat.

“Thank you, Kiyoomi,” he told him. “That was the best birthday gift ever.”

Awkward at such honesty and embarrassed over the praise, Kiyoomi simply nodded and avoided eye contact.

Shoyo smiled at him proudly and was about to say something when the smile dropped suddenly and he looked out at the sky, the sun beginning to peak out its head out on the horizon.

“Oh,” he said disappointedly. “It’s almost morning.”

Kiyoomi couldn’t help but mirror his disappointment and he sighed, standing carefully on the branch and offering a hand to help Shoyo stand.

“Here,” he said kindly, quietly, a sad smile on his face. “I’ll escort you home.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The walk back was quiet and heavy, not a note Kiyoomi had wanted to end their time together on. Shoyo had seemed a bit disappointed but when asked he said it wasn’t because of Kiyoomi but instead the fact that they had to cut their time so short, so Kiyoomi was at least reassured he hadn’t messed up in some way. 

When they finally reached Shoyo’s tower, it was obvious both were reluctant to leave. They stood there awkwardly, Shoyo looking at his shoes and Kiyoomi looking at the ground. The sun was steadily rising, though, so Shoyo knew he had to go quickly lest he be found out and accidentally throw their land head first into its curse.

He smiled at Kiyoomi, who finally looked up at him, and hugged him for the second time that night. They weren’t normally physically affectionate but something about his birthday always made Shoyo more sentimental than usual, and it wasn’t like Kiyoomi minded the hugs anyway. 

“Thank you for the best birthday ever, Kiyoomi,” Shoyo said softly, and smiled when Kiyoomi hugged him tighter.

“Of course, Shoyo,” Kiyoomi reassured. He pulled away and smiled at his friend. “Happy birthday.”

Shoyo smiled back and pulled away from the hug. He moved towards the rope still hanging from his window and was about to ascend back into his tower when he paused, a hand on the rope as he hesitantly turned towards Kiyoomi, who looked at him curiously.

“And…” he started shyly, his cheeks beginning to burn as he thought about what he was going to say next. “And thank you for always being the one who sees me, Kiyoomi. You don’t know how much it means to me.”

And before he could lose his nerve, Shoyo quickly leaned forward and pecked Kiyoomi’s cheek. The two of them stood there for a moment, spellbound, but Shoyo was able to regain consciousness first and quickly climbed up his rope in embarrassment, hoping Kiyoomi wouldn’t be too mad about being kissed by his friend. 

All Kiyoomi could do was stand there in complete shock and watch his friend climb, a hand softly cupping the cheek Shoyo had kissed. He looked up at the tower as his friend called down to him.

“Thank you again, Kiyoomi!” He cried, and in a moment the rope was collected and the window was shut tight, the slam of the shutter startling Kiyoomi out of his daze.

It was as the sun fully peaked its head through the mountains, finally greeting the kingdom after a long night with a new day and showering the land in its light and love that washed over and shined beautifully on the brick of Shoyo’s castle, that Kiyoomi realized that he was in love with Prince Shoyo. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have a few things to say ^^
> 
> -This is technically the first chapter of a much longer AU, but I’ve been struggling a lot to write for a while now and I don’t have much hope that this will be continued. It’s not impossible, but I just want it to be known that it’s not extremely likely at the moment.
> 
> -Despite this, I really love this AU a lot and what I’ve written with this chapter and wanted to share it still because I feel like it’s good, and I figured where it ended was a good enough place to cut it off so that it’s good but also satisfying enough to be read as a stand alone/one shot. Cliffhangers suck when the next chapter isn’t planned lol.
> 
> -Please let me know what you think!! Like I said I really really love this AU (and omihina lol) so I still wanted to share it and if you want more from this universe, hearing your thoughts would be very encouraging :) I have a good chunk of how I want this to go planned in a broad sense, just not the details or it written, so hearing that more people want it might motivate me, or I hope at least lol. (Also if you want to ask questions, feel free to comment!! I’ve thought a lot about this AU so I can answer them)
> 
> Anyway thank you so much for reading, I hope you like it and that you have a good day❣️


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